Christmas season

Christmas season, also called the holiday season or simply the holidays in the United States and Canada, is an annual festive period that surrounds Christmas and various other holidays. It is generally considered to run from late November to early January. Its relation to Christmas in official use by schools and governments has resulted in controversy in the western countries. It incorporates a period of shopping which comprises a peak season for the retail sector (the "Christmas shopping season"), and a period of sales at the end of the season (the "January sales").


In the Christian tradition, the Christmas Season, is a period of time comprising Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. While the entire season of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany can be seen together, they each have distinctly different roles in the Church year.
Advent, (from the Latin word adventus meaning "coming"), signifies the anticipatory days of preparation and hopeful waiting for Christmas. Advent begins on the Sunday closest to the feast of St. Andrew, (usually around November 27), and continues for the first four weeks leading up to Christmas Day (December 25). The popular Advent Calendar, which is used to count down the calendar days until Christmas Day, originated from this Christian tradition.
Christmas, (meaning Christ's Mass, derived from Old English), is the sacred Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, the son of God. Other then New Year's Day, Christmas is the most celebrated holiday in the world, and is observed by billions of people around the globe. It begins at sunset on Christmas Eve, (December 24), liturgically closing Advent, and initiating Christmas, which lasts for twelve days, through January 5. It is also known as Christmastide, Yuletide, and the The Twelve Days of Christmas, as referred to in the Christmas carol of the same name.
Epiphany, takes place on January 6, and commemorates the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus.
In Western Christianity, Catholics, Anglicans, and most Protestants celebrate the Christmas season from Christmas Day (December 25), or from sunset on Christmas Eve (December 24), until Epiphany (January 6). Liturgically, the Catholic Church extends the season of Christmas until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the first Sunday after Epiphany. Eastern Christians who follow the Julian calendar, including some Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholics follow the same dates, but December 25 on the Julian calendar now appears as January 7 on the Gregorian calendar.